Unravelling the entrepreneurial process: Exploring the role of business models in opportunity-creation

Opportunities mark the starting point of any entrepreneurial journey. However, there is a lack of understanding of how they evolve into new ventures, and which activities occur along that path. This study proposes to use the business model concept to bridge that gap, arguing that an iterative BM design process gives specificity to the underlying opportunity itself, and thus enables the translation into operational actions. Building on findings from various emerging research streams at the intersection of entrepreneurship research and cognitive science, the major contribution of this study is a theoretical framework that illuminates this relationship, as well as how it triggers the creation of new ventures. Valuable insights from a multiple case study with founders of seven new digital ventures from Germany complement the data, and provide refinement to the framework. Overall, the study presents a novel perspective on the interaction of integral parts of the entrepreneurial process, which have not yet been thoroughly studied.